Three-Ring Circus
by 0Requiem
Summary: When shy Kise Ryouta confesses to Aomine in high school, his senpai turns him down. The two reunite in college, and to Aomine's surprise, Kise seems to have completely forgotten about their past. But why does this cause strange, conflicting emotions in him? [Oneshot, AU, T for some language.]


**Sorry for the strange title. I'm bad at naming things.**

**Based on **_**Zantei, Koibito**_** by Akiba Touko, a manga I've read recently and that reminded me of these two.**

**Although I tried not to change too much, it's not completely in character because these aren't prepubescent boys anymore and this is an AU.**

* * *

It happens on Aomine Daiki's graduation day. It's not an unusual occurrence, really, seeing it's an all-boys school. He's heard rumors, even if he hasn't ever experienced something like it himself.

"We'll miss you, Aomine-san!"

"Our ace!"

"Our hero!"

"You will be remembered!"

"Good luck in college!"

"_Aomine-san!_ Uh… I…" This last shy, flustered voice catches Aomine's attention from the crowd of underclassmen that's saying their goodbyes. It belongs to a short, blonde boy with shaggy hair and thick-rimmed glasses that look too big for his face. Said face is as red as a tomato and he can't seem to stop fidgeting.

"Do I know you?" Aomine raises an eyebrow at the boy.

"I-I'm Kise Ryouta from year 2, class B!" he stutters terribly, straightening his back. "I-Is it okay if I t-talked to you?… I-It will only be a s-second!"

"Sure," he shrugs, and follows the kid away from the crowd. Observing the boy's lanky figure, Aomine thinks that he's maybe seen him before… through his peripheral vision, during basketball practices…

Everything clicks in place for Aomine when the kid stops under a cherry blossom tree and turns to face him.

"Aomine-san!" he watches as the blonde clenches his hands into fists and looks up at him. "I've always liked you… and… um… Would you please go out with me?"

"Ah. Sorry, kid. I don't swing that way."

* * *

( . . . )

* * *

"How many guys do we need, exactly?" Aomine grumbles at Midorima, who's holding the signup forms for their basketball club.

"Seven, at least, and we've only got 5 so far, counting us," the green-haired man replies, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Tsk, why aren't we getting more people? Can't these morons see what they're missing out on?"

"I think it's because you're intimidating them, Aomine-kun," Kuroko, who's holding up the club sign, says.

"Am not!" the dark-haired man replies, indignant. He turns around to glare at the short man, and feels someone crash into him. "Ah, my bad."

"Oh, no, it was my… Huh? Aomine-san?"

Aomine doesn't recognize the blonde man at first, and raises an inquisitive eyebrow. He is almost as tall as him now, his hair is shorter, and he no longer wears those ugly glasses, but those amber eyes are unmistakable. It's the kid from that day. The one who confessed.

His jaw drops. "You're…"

The blonde smiles.

* * *

"My name is Kise Ryouta. It's nice to meet you all!" the man is saying later that day.

They reach the minimum quota for the basketball club to start running, thanks to Kise and a red-haired freshman named Kagami Taiga signing up for the club. To celebrate the formation of the team, they all go out for drinks and introductions.

Only to be intercepted by group of giggling high school girls, who hang around Kise and ask him for pictures and autographs. When Akashi Seijuurou, the creepy redhead with heterochromic eyes that'd been the first to sign up for the team, asks what the fuss is about, Murasakibara Atsushi, the giant dragged into the team by Akashi, says that he's seen Kise in an ad for sweets.

"I'm a part-time model," Kise admits and rubs the back of his head in apparent embarrassment, to Aomine's surprise. It's not long before the girls invite themselves to their table, unashamedly throwing themselves Kise.

"How did _you_ get this freshman to join?" Midorima mutters to Aomine, picking at the food in front of him.

"Does Aomine-kun know Kise-kun?" asks Kuroko, who's been silently observing Aomine for a while.

"About that…"

"I was Aominecchi's underclassman in high school," the blonde says, surprising Aomine with both the nickname and the ease with which he says it. "But we weren't close, and since I've changed so much, he didn't know who I was at first."

"Mm? How did you change, Ryouta-kun?" one of the girls purrs, eyeing Kise with interest. Aomine is surprised that no one comments on her rudeness, being so familiar with someone older than her.

"Well, I was super tiny and skinny, and had these huge glasses," he laughs, "Not to mention my hair..!"

Aomine lets their chatter fade into the background, and tries to remember Kise from that time. He finds that he can't recall much of the boy's looks, save for one instant…

_("I don't swing that way.")_

At the time, Aomine had brushed off the kid's feelings for him as something merely due to the fact that they'd grown up surrounded only by boys. It was nothing beyond fleeting curiosity and misplaced affections.

So the boy's response to his careless words had surprised him. The face he made, the one that screamed that he was about to cry, while struggling to keep a straight face, was one that Aomine didn't (couldn't) forget.

Now, watching Kise laugh carelessly at something, Aomine thinks that he must've seen wrong. Maybe he'd made that face not because he was sad or hurt, but because he was angry at being rejected. That had to be it. _He's not paying attention to me at all… _Aomine thinks, begrudgingly, and rolls his eyes at how easily he's talking to the girls. For someone who'd been so plain and just gotten out of an all-boys school, he sure knew how to deal with the attention.

"Kise." Aomine sips at his beer. When the blonde looks at him, he continues, "You gotta know all of the juicy secrets of what type of stuff happens at all-boys schools, right? Come on, tell us."

He can't take more of this suave Kise. He wants to see him waver. He doesn't want to see the other pretend that day never happened.

The girls look confused and ask Kise what the other man means. After a moment, to their wonder, the blonde smiles. His amber eyes flick to Aomine purposefully.

"Ah, yes! Actually, there was this one guy, who we'll call Ao-san, who was legendary at our school for his obsession with a certain model named Mai-chan. Since there were no girls around, he fawned over this one magazine he'd sneaked in one day. Until they caught him showing it to his friends, and it was confiscated. There was also this time when he was caught trying to sneak into the girls' school across the street, dressed as a girl because he was in love with this girl who looked just like Ma–"

"Oy, shut up!" Aomine cuts him off, slamming his glass onto the table. His tanned skin can't hide the blush that colors his face.

"Could it be that Aomine-kun is actually a huge pervert?" Kuroko says. Everyone else at the table, save for Akashi, who looks unsurprised, and Murasakibara, who's too busy munching on something, looks positively scandalized at Kise's account.

"Oh, but Aominecchi was seen as a hero in our school for that," Kise says, and Aomine throws a glare his way. Why had the bastard brought up something from his embarrassing past? Was that his way of getting back at him?

"Don't back up such a pervert, Ki-kun~" one of the girls squeals, "It sounds like you saw him as a hero as well!"

Aomine has to remind himself that hitting girls is bad.

"But I did," Kise's smile gives Aomine pause. "Even though he was like that, he was a very talented, amazing person. During my first year, I saw him playing basketball, and I couldn't breathe. He was so fluid, so natural. When he saw me watching, he smiled at me and waved. And that was a side of him I just couldn't hate. I admired him."

The table had grown quiet. Watching Kise's small smile and flushed cheeks, Aomine loses all of his initial annoyance towards him.

"You've got an amazing underclassman, Aomine-kun," Kuroko murmurs once the conversations resume.

"…Yeah. I guess so…"

* * *

"Oh, Aominecchi is in this lecture as well?"

Aomine looks up from his bag to see Kise slide into the seat beside him. He hears the girls on his other side giggle and controls the urge to roll his eyes.

They are sitting in silence when a perfectly manicured nail from the girl sitting directly behind him pokes at the blonde's shoulder. Aomine is suddenly interested in a crack on the ceiling. When the girl does speak, however, it is not to flirt with Kise.

"Ne, Ki-chan, who's that sitting beside you?"

They seem to know each other. Aomine wonders when Kise had the time to make so many female friends.

"Hm? He's in my club. An upperclassman."

"He's so cool!" the volume with which she's speaking tells Aomine that she wants him to hear it. "Maybe I'll show up at your meetings."

He sees black hair draw back from his peripheral vision, and Kise turns to grin at him.

"You heard her. You're popular," he says.

Aomine crosses his arms and leans back against his chair. "Well, what can I do. Both girls _and guys_ seem to fall for me."

"Then I guess nothing has changed since high school, right, Aominecchi?" Kise laughs.

Aomine has the sudden urge to strangle the blonde, then wonders why he gives a damn. Kise's confession, which now feels like such a long time ago, seems to have been forgotten by the blonde himself, so why is _he_ still so hung up on it? Kise wasn't bad as an underclassman, and his easygoing personality would probably make him a reliable friend.

"Dai-chan!" Aomine looks up in time to see Momoi Satsuki flop down into the seat right in front of his, and the various male eyes that follow her movements shamelessly.

She is a really pretty girl, and that, along with her bountiful rack, makes her extremely popular. In spite of that, Aomine has no interest in her and neither has she in him. They were childhood friends, and being attracted to her would be like being attracted to a sister or something. Which doesn't mean there were no rumors regarding their rather close relationship, much to his distaste.

"How did things go with your club?" Momoi cheerfully asks.

"Fine," he replies, leaning back in his seat, "We got enough members to get it running."

"That's great news! Did you get the paperwork for the club done already?"

"Hmph, that's due in a week," he grunts. He had completely forgotten about it.

"Come on, a week flies by in the blink of an eye, and setting up a sports club is a lot of work! You wanted to start this basketball thing, so now you have to take on your responsibilities, Dai-chan," she was shaking her head, but had a smile on her face.

"Midorima can take care of that shit. I just wanted to play, is all."

"Speaking of, when will you guys start actually practicing? I'd love to watch!"

She had completely turned in her seat and was leaning over it to look at Aomine, a position that made her breasts almost spill out from her low-cut blouse and Aomine look away. Sure, he can appreciate the view, but Satsuki would never let him live it down if she'd caught him staring.

Glancing aside, he catches Kise silently observing, not Satsuki and her damn indecent cleavage, but _him_. Aomine had almost forgotten he was there. When their gazes meet, the blonde smiles wordlessly.

"So? When will your team start practicing?" the pink-haired girl repeats.

"Actually… I wanted to test out Kise first." At the mention of his name, Kise raises his eyebrows. "I know all the others have played before– and that giant doesn't even _need_ any experience, with his build– but I never knew you played. I only ever saw you watching games."

"I have some practice," he shrugs.

"Then let's see it. You free after classes today?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Then it's a date."

"Ooh, ooh, can I come?" Satsuki claps excitedly.

"You're not invited," Aomine replies immediately.

"Ehh? Why not?" she pouts, and he rolls his eyes.

"Because I say so."

She narrows her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. When the professor finally arrives and Aomine still hasn't given in, Momoi huffs and turns to the front of the class.

* * *

"So how come you didn't invite the other guys?" Kise asks much later, as they sit in the neighborhood court Aomine is used to playing at.

"I'd be a pain to have those loud guys here," he says, then adds, "And I wanted to play a one-on-one against you. I remember seeing you at our practices back in high school, and wanted to see if you learned anything."

"I'm honored Aominecchi wanted to play with me~" he exclaims.

"Yeah, you should be," is Aomine's gruff reply.

"And I'm good, aren't I?" Kise waggles his eyebrows, smirking proudly.

"You're not half bad," Aomine admits, thinking back to the blonde's quick movements and practiced throws. It had honestly surprised him just how good Kise was. He must've joined the high school team after he'd graduated or something.

That pretty much shut up the little part of him that had thought that maybe Kise had only joined their club because of him.

The rustling of the leaves above and the scrape of their shoes on the concrete are the only sounds they hear for a while then. It is almost comfortable (but not quite).

"You've changed, Kise."

"Yeah," Kise laughs and runs a hand up his styled blonde hair.

"Not that. Wait, not _just_ that, I mean. You're less…" Aomine trails off, not knowing how to put his thoughts into words. "You know…"

He must know, because he laughs. "Yeah. I guess I did."

To take his mind off things, Aomine stands up and grabs his basketball. "Come on, we're not done yet."

"Up for another round, Aominecchi? Wow, someone's sure got stamina!"

His head jerks down in Kise's direction at that, but the blonde is just smiling stupidly, seemingly oblivious to how suggestive that sounded.

He feels stupid. It's like he's hyper-aware of everything Kise says, looking for evidence that at least _something_ in the man (boy) hasn't changed.

"Ah, help me up, then!" And Kise unceremoniously grabs his wrist, using it as leverage to make it up to his feet. Aomine barely keeps himself from jerking away.

What the hell. Is this Kise's way of sending him _mixed signals?_ It sure seems like it to Aomine. Hell, things would be so much easier if Kise were a girl. As soon as the thought crosses his mind, Aomine frowns. It's not like he likes the blonde or anything! In fact, he feels an immense (something) relief every time Kise shows that he no longer holds any interest in him in _that_ way. (And yet) At the same time… He finds himself getting unbearably frustrated at the guy, for no apparent reason.

He likes girls, girls with delicate bodies and big tits, and has liked them even when he was stuck around only boys for all of six years and it's not like this guy is anything like what he fantasizes about. So then why is he having these disturbing thoughts and overthinking shit? Aomine didn't think, period. He acted.

And it's all Kise's fault.

"Aominecchi?"

"What?"

"You're kind of spacing out. Is everything okay?" Kise touches his forehead. "It doesn't seem like you have a fever—"

"Kise."

"Yeah?"

"Are you still gay?"

He withdraws his hand. "What?"

"You heard me. I remember that day in high school, and I just don't want any issues, you know?"

His grin wrinkles the corners of his eyes. "What are you so afraid of, Aominecchi?"

"I'm not afraid!" he shouts, and Kise's smile drops, "I'm just being on guard!"

"It's alright already. I've had my college debut," he says, but his eyes are wider than usual ("I-I'm Kise Ryouta").

"Without any proof, I can't trust you near me!" he growls, stepping away from the blonde.

"But Aominecchi ("Aomine-san!")—"

"What the fuck is that nickname anyways? It's not like we're fucking buddies or something! Don't push your luck!"

"A-Ao..?"

Aomine grabs his bag and walks away.

At that moment, just for an instant, with his wide, shinning eyes and stuttering voice, Kise might have reminded Aomine of the Kise of back then.

But his mind was in such a muddle that he couldn't even think clearly.

* * *

("Would you please go out with me?")

("I don't swing that way.")

* * *

Aomine doesn't see Kise for the rest of the week. The other guys in the team ask of him, but Aomine says he doesn't know either. Satsuki says she'd seen him in one of her lectures, hanging with other kids (girls) in his year.

By the time he'd reached his house that day, he'd had enough time to cool down and realize that maybe, just maybe, he'd gone a little too far and said too much. But skipping their precious initial club meetings like this? If the guy had nothing to feel guilty about, then he should just come back and stop being such a baby!

Nothing to feel guilty about… so… does that mean that he still..?

("I've always liked you.")

"Maybe he's got a girlfriend," Satsuki, who had infiltrated their meetings, comments one day.

"Why would you think that, Momoi-san?" Kuroko asks, impassive.

"Well, whenever I see him, he's always with a lot of girls," she says.

"I guess that makes sense. Still, what kind of idiot skips practice to be with some stupid gi—"

"Aomine, you bastard!" Midorima enters the room suddenly, cutting off Kagami's speech. "I should've known better than to trust you even with this menial task!"

"What is the matter, Shintarou?" Akashi asks.

"Aomine, you idiot, what happened to our application for the sports teams? The club organization committee just contacted me. They said we hadn't applied for a club as a basketball team!"

"Fuck."

"Is that true, Daiki?"

"Yeah. I forgot."

"You should've let me handle it, Shintarou," Akashi says, his golden eye seeming to flash. Midorima seems to curl into himself; Aomine pities him.

"Aka-chin is scary," comes Murasakibara's comment from somewhere in the room, and Aomine agrees wholeheartedly.

"It had to be one of the people who requested it," Aomine mutters. "No problem, I'll turn it in today."

"That is not how it works!" Midorima hisses, then calms down and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But luckily for you, I managed to get us an extension. We will be recognized as a team if we turn in the application by 18:00 today."

Aomine glances at the wall clock. "That's an hour from now."

"Yes. Since I've already filled everything out and your only job is to turn it in, we should be fine. You're welcome."

The room is silent for a moment.

"Aomine-kun has lost it, hasn't he?" Kuroko comments idly.

"Yeah."

"You fucking bastard!" Kagami yells, and the pale-haired man sitting beside him lays a hand on his arm to keep him from lunging.

"You…" Midorima is pinching the bridge of his nose tightly, his eyes squeezed shut and a vein popping out on his temple. "I don't even…"

"Can't we just go ask them for another form?" Kagami suggests hopefully.

"_I said_, that's not how it works," Midorima sinks down into the nearest chair. "Have you _any_ idea what lengths I had to go to to get this extension? And now you come tell me that you've lost the papers? Now? It's hopeless."

"So… we can't play basketball?" Murasakibara asks around a pastry, not sounding particularly unhappy at the prospect.

"There must be a way…" Kuroko says.

"And so everyone's favorite model arrives to save the day~" It's Kise's voice, and everyone immediately looks at the doorway in time to see the blonde spin inside. "Are you by any chance looking for this?" he asks and holds up a stack of papers.

"Is that..?" Midorima stands up and stalks towards Kise.

"The application forms for our team! Yay!"

"His timing is ridiculously perfect," Kagami comments as Midorima squeezes Kise's shoulder and wipes at suspiciously sparkling eyes beneath his glasses.

"Mn," Kuroko agrees quietly.

"But not all of these are filled out, I'm afraid," Kise speaks again, "I only found some of them, and the rest I got from the club committee."

"How?" Midorima asks, and_ is that concern in his eyes?!_

"Oy, Midorima, just what exactly did you have to do to get an extension?" Aomine grunts.

"I don't think I owe you any explanation," Midorima says, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Just hand in the papers on time, will you?"

The green-haired man leaves, and Kagami and Kuroko follow suit; Kagami with a promise to break Aomine's face if he doesn't submit the application, and Kuroko with a request that Kise "please take care of Aomine-kun." Akashi pulls Kise aside and whispers something in his ear, glancing back at Aomine, who shuffles on his feet uneasily.

"Come, Atsushi," Akashi calls, and the giant follows, handing Aomine and Kise each a piece of candy on his way out.

As soon as they're alone, Kise extends the stack of papers to Aomine, who takes them and takes a seat on a desk.

"You can go now," he tells Kise.

"Akashicchi told me to watch over you, but… in no uncertain terms… that I was not to help you."

"Tch… How'd you have these papers anyway?" Aomine grumbles, feeling very uncomfortable. Last time he'd seen him, he'd said some pretty awful things to Kise, but now here he is, acting like nothing had happened at all. Aomine doesn't know what he prefers.

"You dropped them that day. You know. At the court. I think they might've fallen from your bag," Kise says, and Aomine wants to smack himself.

"Oh."

The sound of his pen quickly– and rather carelessly, he knows– scribbling down on the forms is getting on Aomine's nerves, and so is Kise's silent stare from across the room. He doesn't know how long has passed when he hears a sound and looks up to see Kise unwrapping the chocolate bar Murasakibara had given him, but most of the blank pages have already been filled out.

The pen he holds hits the desk with an almost piercing clatter. "Just go. It's not like I'll tell him that you left. This isn't your problem."

"I think I'll stay."

"What, come to show off now that you've got a girlfriend? Does she have big boobs? I thought you were just gay, but you might be alright after a—"

A loud noise cuts across the classroom as the blonde slaps him.

Aomine cradles his stinging cheek as he stares at Kise incredulously. "Did you just slap me?"

"Well, y-yes! What was I supposed to do?"

"No… Wait… You. Slapped. Me."

"I did! Get over it! You were being an asshole!"

Aomine starts to laugh. "Okay, now I know you're gay for sure. What kind of man slaps another man like that? That's like, the gayest thing in the universe!"

Kise stares at him for a moment, then a sob rises in his throat and he starts yelling. "Oh yes, that's right! I'm gay! I'm so sorry _it bothers you so much!_ I'm so sorry my confession in high school _troubled you!_ I thought that I could at least stay with you now if I were only your friend, so I acted like it was nothing, didn't I? I tried so hard! I followed you to this school, and even changed the way I look so I wouldn't look out of place next to you! But then… sometimes you'd say something suggestive, and I didn't know what to do, and then you'd choose to hang out with me and I was so damn happy—" his voice had risen so much it broke off, and when he speaks again, it is heavy, "—hey, Aomine-san… Is it really that much fun to hurt me..?"

And Aomine is suddenly staring at the boy of the past, the one whose eyes shine with unshed tears and flushed cheeks hint at the effort (It's all his fault).

"I can't fucking help it, _okay?_" He slams a fist down on the desk and pushes himself up from it. "It's all your fault. Shit like that (this) happens all the time in high school, but it's something you're supposed to get over (forget), isn't it? But you! You said all that shit to me that day, sounding like you meant it and would feel like that forever! And now what? Sure enough, you're only ever surrounded by stupid fangirls who only give a shit about you being a model or something like that! So how the fuck do you want me to react, huh? Of course I'm gonna freak out and being confused as fuck, you idiot!"

"…What? Aomine-san—"

"Don't call me that, idiot."

Kise seems stunned. More than that, he is openly gaping at Aomine. "You're the worst," he whispers. "Treating my feelings like they're some kind of delusion, and now… The way you're talking… It's almost like…" he trails off, and Aomine suddenly wishes he had something to wash away dryness of throat with, "Like you're saying that you're in love with me, Aominecchi."

"How arrogant, Kise." And Aomine wants to die because his voice breaks in the middle of that and the look in Kise's amber eyes tells him he noticed it and _ohshitwhatthefuck_.

Kise's smiling again.

Not that stupid, fake smile he plasters on his face every now and then for the sake of appearances ("so I wouldn't look out of place next to you"), but a stupid, obviously genuine smile that brightens up the room around them.

"You are, aren't you? Aominecchi's in love with me!"

"…What about you, idiot? You were just talking like you've still got a crush on me…"

"You're really slow, aren't you?" Kise laughs. "Yes, I still have a big homo crush on my straight, perverted senpai from high school! … or should I say, equally homo, perverted senpai from high school?"

"Don't get cocky on me, I never said I liked you, idiot." And when Aomine grabs him, Kise lets him, laughing merrily.

"I should just wring your neck…" Aomine mumbles as his tanned hands settle on Kise's pale (flushed) cheeks.

"Watch what you say about a model's face~" the blonde is still smiling when he closes his eyes and leans in towards him.

Aomine pulls him closer.

Kise drops his chocolate.

* * *

**Omake**

"Shin-chan! You came!"

"I said I would, didn't I?"

"Hehe, c'mere~"

"Don't touch that, bastard!"

"Come on, aren't you thankful for that extension?"

"…Yeah... Thanks."

"Aw, my Shin-chan is the cutest!"

"N-no! Stop—nnnhg"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! ****Reviews always appreciated :)**


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